This article by Eudora Wang originally appeared on China Money Network, the best data intelligence platform tracking China’s tech and venture capital markets (access requires subscription).
Statistics show that the Chinese venture capital market remains volatile in the recent months in the wake of the longstanding capital winter, while global trade tensions and political uncertainties are still unsettled.
An aggregate of 213 VC financing deals worth $5.5 billion were recorded in April 2019, slightly down compared with the $5.82 billion raised across 240 deals in March, according to China Money Network’s China VC Tracker released today. China VC Tracker is produced based on proprietary data collected by China Money Network.
The largest deal in April 2019 was a $446 million series B round completed by Chinese new energy vehicles maker Hozon Auto. The new round was led by a Chinese government industry fund, with participation from other strategic investors, said Hozon Auto chairman Zhang Yong at the 18th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition on April 22. Detailed information of the investors remained undisclosed.
Ranking second was Chinese NEV brand ENOVATE, who secured over RMB 2 billion (over $298.31 million) in a series A round of financing from investors including a government-guided industry fund. The company booked more than RMB 6.5 billion in total fundraising after the completion of the new round.
The two mega-deals drove up cumulative deal value in the Chinese transportation and space sector to $1.32 billion, making it April’s most active sector with the largest amount of capital raised across 19 investments.
Companies in the Chinese healthcare industry dropped to second with $1.03 billion collected through 28 transactions in the month. The retail and consumer field came third with $690 million across 32 deals, making it the most active sector in terms of deal volume.
In deal value, Tencent Holdings became the most active investor in April as it participated in six investments with the capital involved totaling $511 million. The social media and gaming giant was followed by California-based venture capital firm GGV Capital, which poured $338 million into four funding rounds. Sequoia Capital China came third, involved in four deals worth a total of $240 million.
